ONE ROOM SCHOOL WITH OVER 100 YEARS OF EDUCATION TO PORTAGE COUNTY CHILDREN

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The Pulaski School was built in 1904 (circa)at a cost of $500.00. The first school was built of wood and known as School House #9 and was part of the thriving town of Jordan. In 1930, the school burned and was rebuilt out of red brick commonly used in the local buildings after many fires had destroyed the downtown. Those who were children remember having to attend school at the local tavern in the town of Jordan while it was being rebuilt. The new school was renamed Pulaski School after Casmir Pulaski a Polish general who fought in the Revolutionary War. A bust of Casmir Pulaski can be seen as you enter Stevens Point on the east side of town. Jordan was est. as an early English & Irish town but today the primary residents are of Polish background. The school was decommissioned by the Stevens Point School District and given to the Portage County Parks Dept. After several years as a storage shed and a place to winter the parks elk the decision was made to create a nature center. The town is all but gone except the school house and small hydro dam but many cultures made their home at this site from the early Native American cultures to the Pioneers. The draw to the center is the exhibits of local life in Central Wisconsin, native animal mounts, live honey bee exhibits, campground, Jordan Pond, summer education programs, nature trails that lead you into old growth mixed hardwoods forest with some 100-250 yr old white pines reaching 5ft across. You may also see the local Bald Eagles or the Pileated Woodpecker a symbol of the nature center.